ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Oh, to be in the head of Curt Schilling last night, to know what the 39-year-old thought as he watched Scott Kazmir, methodical, unshakable, and nearly untouchable. To know what he thought as the 22-year-old, who Schilling in April said is ``getting better and learning" to pitch inside, owned the plate, all sides. To know what he thought as Kazmir, who was just named to an All-Star team that does not include Schilling, went out and validated his selection.
Kazmir leaves Sox on empty
Last night, in the most captivating and presumably most rewarding night of his young career, Kazmir knew how to pitch in, out, up, down, and to all the right places at all the right times.
Josh Beckett, who gave up the game's three runs on three solo home runs in a 3-0 Red Sox loss before 26,149 at Tropicana Field, saw almost immediately that Kazmir knew the kind of stuff he had and knew he could dictate the pace. By night's end he'd put together a masterpiece: a two-hit, 120-pitch, 84-strike shutout. Never before had he worked a complete game, let alone a shutout.
``After his second inning he really started getting in a groove, getting the ball back quick, that look of, `Let's go,' pounding it in," Beckett said.
That allowed Kazmir to ring up 10 Ks, all of them swinging, including Jason Varitek four times (93-mile-per-hour fastball, 85-m.p.h. biting slider, 94-m.p.h. high heater, 86-m.p.h. slider in the dirt). David Ortiz whiffed twice, both on sliders. Coco Crisp fanned twice as well, at a 93-m.p.h. fastball and 85-m.p.h. slider. Mike Lowell, who had gone a major league-leading 47 plate appearances without a whiff, kissed that goodbye in the seventh, on a riding fastball. Manny RamÃrez fanned once, with the bases loaded in the third, ending the Sox' only real threat.
``That was impressive," manager Terry Francona said. ``He has an exploding fastball. We've seen that from Day 1. Now, he's mixing in a changeup, a slider. Some of those sliders he threw David were as good as I've seen."
High praise. But the Sox are becoming used to this act. In 11 starts against the Sox, Kazmir is 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA. (George Steinbrenner, who lives in Tampa, must be counting down the days until the end of the 2010 season, when Kazmir could hit the open market.)
``Some guys, against certain teams, there's a comfort zone," Beckett said. ``Maybe he likes the way his stuff matches up."
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon agreed, to an extent.
``Even though it's different lineups, it's still the Red Sox," Maddon said. ``He gets more enthused against teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees."
Does Kazmir concur?
``Sure," he said. ``You try to go out there the same way against everybody you face, but this is a lot more fun. It's much more intense."
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